I've never really felt the need to include a prologue in anything that I've written, but the story I am writing now really seems to function better with one.
Before I get into the meat of the topic, I will just say that it is not a high fantasy, and the prologue is not a form of world-building. It's actually about a page and a half written in the same tone as the rest of the novel, detailing something that happened to the MC long before she would be able to recall it. It provides the reader with a bit of information that even the MC doesn't know, but it's also not apparent, which I think as a reader, I would appreciate since I like to connect the dots myself instead of having the mysteries spelled out to me. Obviously I'm a bit attached to it, but if I must kill my darlings, then I must kill my darlings and it will end up on the chopping block.
I am just wondering why people (in general) are so quick to hate on the prologue. Off the very top of my head I can only think of two instances in young adult fiction (Don't judge me--it's late here!). The first is in Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. It starts with a dreadful prologue which I don't even remember much of, except that it was set in the 1500's...a full 500 years before the book takes place. The second was in Twilight, and I believe it may have been called something other than a prologue, as it was actually an excerpt of text that came from the end of the book. They gave me mixed reactions from what I remember...I did not want to continue reading Hush, Hush, but the first couple sentences of chapter one were so interesting, and then the writing followed through! And then with Twilight, I know the prologue (preface?) definitely intrigued me, so much so that I stayed awake for hours, despite the droll beginning chapters, waiting for the good stuff I had been promised at the beginning.
Can you think of any other books that begin with a prologue, and why did it work (or not work)?
Genocide of the prologue?
Before I get into the meat of the topic, I will just say that it is not a high fantasy, and the prologue is not a form of world-building. It's actually about a page and a half written in the same tone as the rest of the novel, detailing something that happened to the MC long before she would be able to recall it. It provides the reader with a bit of information that even the MC doesn't know, but it's also not apparent, which I think as a reader, I would appreciate since I like to connect the dots myself instead of having the mysteries spelled out to me. Obviously I'm a bit attached to it, but if I must kill my darlings, then I must kill my darlings and it will end up on the chopping block.
I am just wondering why people (in general) are so quick to hate on the prologue. Off the very top of my head I can only think of two instances in young adult fiction (Don't judge me--it's late here!). The first is in Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. It starts with a dreadful prologue which I don't even remember much of, except that it was set in the 1500's...a full 500 years before the book takes place. The second was in Twilight, and I believe it may have been called something other than a prologue, as it was actually an excerpt of text that came from the end of the book. They gave me mixed reactions from what I remember...I did not want to continue reading Hush, Hush, but the first couple sentences of chapter one were so interesting, and then the writing followed through! And then with Twilight, I know the prologue (preface?) definitely intrigued me, so much so that I stayed awake for hours, despite the droll beginning chapters, waiting for the good stuff I had been promised at the beginning.
Can you think of any other books that begin with a prologue, and why did it work (or not work)?
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